


what is seldom is beautiful

by rlb190



Series: Perilous for good and ill [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Dolma - Freeform, Meet the Family, Merlin is a Little Shit, Minor Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 02:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19368091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rlb190/pseuds/rlb190
Summary: “One day, Arthur. You’ll understand.”or:When Arthur forgets that The Dolma was holding Merlin hostage, Merlin feels a little hurt. He takes a few days off in hopes of showing Arthur the true worth of those around him.5x9: With all my heart





	what is seldom is beautiful

     “I owe you a great debt, we both do. If there’s ever anything I can do in return-- perhaps a new dress?”

 

“Arthur!” Gwen scolded firmly but not unkindly.

 

      “She likes clothes.”

 

The Dolma rolled her eyes and then got very serious, just for a moment. She looked Arthur dead in the eye.

 

     “There is one thing. Remember what saved your queen. Magic and sorcery.”

 

Arthur looked taken aback.

 

      “It was also sorcery that bewitched her.”

 

“There is no evil in sorcery, only in the hearts of men.” The Dolma glanced from Gwen to Arthur, as if comparing the two. “My request is that you remember this.”

 

      Arthur looked solemn. “You have my word.”

 

He turned back to see Mordred walking behind them, and turned away from the Dolma, hand in hand with Gwen.

 

      Merlin’s blood boiled, but he tried to remain calm as the Dolma spoke;

 

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

 

      Arthur turned around casually. The Dolma sighed.

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

      “The boy?”

 

The Dolma could scarcely believe this. Had the king forgotten Merlin so quickly? The Dolma almost felt insulted by the act of it. Merlin did actually feel insulted.

 

      “Ah. Of course. I thought everything had gone unusually smoothly.”

 

_ Rude. _

 

       “That boy was your surety Great King. Without him your queen would still be lost.” The Dolma said, with a slight nod of her head, as if confirming this as fact to the air.

 

“I’m not sure that’s quite true.”

 

     “And I say it is!”

 

She approached him slowly, surely, like a lion stalking its prey. She lent in slightly, trying to get the point across.

 

      “You owe him a greater debt than you can possibly know.”

 

“Right, um, I’m sorry. I’ll... give him the afternoon off.

 

       The Dolma sighed again.

 

“One day, great king. You will recognize the true worth of those that surround you,” she waved her hand passively. “Go.”

 

      Arthur nodded awkwardly and retreated. He looked behind him, and the Dolma gave him a small wave. He awkwardly waved a hand back before turning around again.

 

The Dolma had disappeared.

 

* * *

 

      Little did Arthur know that the Dolma had just ran like a maniac to behind a rather large boulder and ducked. Merlin waited until Arthur and his two companions disappeared far enough away until they were just specks in the distance. He frowned as he worked a spell that would turn him back into himself.

 

Arthur had  been prepared to walk away, just like that. He probably wouldn’t have even noticed his absence until the next morning, when he would wake up without a servant to made the bed or fetch him his breakfast.

 

      That’s when Merlin had an idea.

 

Arthur did offer to give him the afternoon off. And, after all, if he would have forgotten Merlin who had practically been taken hostage, well, maybe he could afford to miss a little bit more time than offered.

 

* * *

     Merlin slowly approached the castle, three days after the Dolma had saved the Queen. He hadn’t really done much these past few days.

       He had found a small village that had a couple willing to take him in for a few nights in exchange for some menial housework and manual labor. He had enjoyed his time with the young couple and their newly born daughter, a small little thing named Lunete who had a full head of brown hair.   
  


Her mother, a servant to a local nobleman, seemed to have been overwhelmed working for her lord and caring for a newborn child. She often would ask Merlin to mind the young girl while she got a moment of rest, which merlin happily did.

 

       Lunete’s father worked long hours as a farmer. He looked constantly exhausted, but had smile lines in the corner of his eyes that always lit up whenever he saw his daughter or wife. Merlin loved it when the three of them sat around the fireplace on the floor (they only had two chairs, and insisted that if Merlin didn’t want to take one from either person they would all sit on the floor) and talked. The mother, Elaine, had lived in the same village her whole life, as did Tom, her husband. They had met when they were children and had spent ages  being oblivious to the other’s feelings until Elaine’s mother finally put her foot down and the two got married the next spring.

 

        They would sit around, eating together on the floor while Elaine went on and on about who was married to who, who liked who, whose mother was the worst, while Tom watched on, little Lunete in his lap happily dozing away. Merlin would sit, content, eating pottage and bread while listening to Elaine ramble on. Occasionally, he would take Lunete from Tom so he could eat properly and the little girl would giggle and coo as Merlin held her. They were lovely people, obviously hard-working and seemed to care about one another, and their daughter, very much. It gave Merlin pangs of longing as he watched the young family be together. He was often reminded of his own small village and his mother, who had the same smile lines around her eyes as Tom did.

 

       Although welcomed with open arms in the home, it was not a free stay. Merlin was reduced to doing many of the same chores he had done for Arthur, but his hosts were more grateful for his work than Arthur was, not to mention they fed him every morning and night.

 

        It was on his second day during the afternoon when he was helping Elaine prepare for the evening meal that he burned himself on his left inner wrist throwing some wood into the fire. It had hurt, obviously, and Elaine had bandaged it lightly for him with some spare cloth leftover from a bolt she had been using to sew clothes. By morning on the third day, there were painful, pus-filled blisters that Merlin resisted the urge to not burst on purpose. He vaguely recalled a lesson with Gaius that the blisters formed to protect the skin underneath, and he should just leave them be unless they were getting infected. 

 

       By the end of the third day, he had felt so welcome and at home he almost didn’t want to leave. But he did have a job to return to, and he figured it had been long enough. With promised to return, Elaine and Tom gave him some supplies for his journey back to Camelot and he was soon off.

 

* * *

 

      And that brought him back to now, bag slung across his back, dirt caking his shoes, walking up the steps to Gaius’s chambers. By the time he had reached the entrance, he feet ached and all he wanted was a hot meal and to lay down.

 

He opened the door and was almost run over by Gaius, who must have been just leaving. Merlin yelped in surprise while Gaius gaped.

 

     “Merlin! No one’s seen you for days!”

 

“Hello Gaius. Missed you too.”

 

The older man quickly entrapped Merlin in a hug before releasing him. He looked Merlin up and down, checking for injuries. “Are you alright?”

 

      Merlin took the time to briefly explain what had happened, the Dolma, Arthur forgetting about him, and staying with Elaine and Tom. By the time he was done, Gaius was shaking his head, although Merlin couldn’t help but notice there was a little smile on his face.

 

“You shouldn’t have done that, Merlin. Arthur has been looking for you for days now.”

 

     Merlin blinked. 

 

“Oh yes, the dollop-head. What time is it? I should probably go check on him,” he slung his bad off his shoulder and gave it to Gauis. “I’ll be back!”

 

      Merlin rushed out the door before Gauis could say anything more. 

* * *

 

 

Merlin trotted down the hallway until he reached Arthur’s room. He knocked on it and then stuck his head in.

 

     “Arthur?”

 

      The room was empty. Merlin frowned at the state of things. The bed was unmade, books and papers were piled up on the desk in the far corner of the room. He sighed before briskly returning the books and papers to their proper places and turning up the sheets. He tucked in the corners before leaving the room. 

 

Merlin headed towards the hall, where he was sure that Arthur would be. If he wasn't in his room he’d be there, going over battle plans or talking with the knights or something along those lines.

 

    He reached the double doors and pushed them open with both hands, the air shifting noticeably with the wooden doors being thrust open.

 

     Merlin put his hands down from pushing the doors open. Inside the hall were the usual suspects, Gwaine, Leon, Percival and Arthur. Gwen was there too, actually standing next to Arthur who was standing in front of the table. They looked as though they had all just been in the middle of an argument or some sort of serious discussion. Mordred, however, was noticeably absent from the room.

 

     Merlin blinked as everyone turned to look at him and for the first time he felt something like panic build in the pit of his stomach. Had something gone wrong when he wasn’t here? He silently cursed himself for taking some time off from Camelot, from Arthur, and everything. Morgana was still a very real threat, and Merlin had spent three days relaxing. 

  
  


“Hello?” he offered to the room.

 

    Gwaine was the first one to react, a huge smile spreading across his face. “Merlin!” he exclaimed excitedly. He jogged over and offered Merlin a giant bear hug, which Merlin accepted with, well, open arms.

 

Leon and Percival joined Gwaine in hugs and greetings before Gwen walked over to Merlin. She smiled broadly at him. “Merlin! You’re alright?”

 

     Merlin nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

 

Gwen hugged him, briefly but tightly, before moving out of the way for Arthur. Arthur looked, well, like Arthur, a little worse for wear, but still the same. He still had all his limbs, which was something.

 

      “Hello Arthur,” Merlin said. Arthur held out a hand. Merlin took it and they shook. Arthur remained composed, but there was an underlying look in his eyes that screamed “we need to talk”.

 

“What happened? You were gone for days!” Gwaine exclaimed, asking the question that everyone in the room had wanted to know the answer to.

 

     “Oh, the Dolma! Yeah, she, uh, sort of surprised me. I found her and told her about Gwen- about the spell she was under- and she... told me to sit there and wait? So I did.”

 

Arthur looked like he wanted to punch Merlin.

 

     “And where you all this time?”

 

Merlin gave a sheepish smile.

 

     “Well, she was a really nice lady. And the cave she was living in-,”

 

“A cave?”

 

     “-yes, the _cave_ she was living in was in such disrepair, and she said I owed her debt for breaking the spell, so I sort of stayed around. Pickled some fish for her, helped fix the leaks, mended some of her clothes. She was nice. Had some very interesting stories. I was with her for a few days before she let me leave.”

 

Gwaine gawked. “Of course you’d help an old witch out after he held you hostage!”

 

     “Well I wouldn’t call it hostage-,”

 

Arthur cleared his throat. “Excuse me. May I have a moment alone with Merlin?” Merlin looked from Gwaine to Arthur. His face was grave.

 

     Merlin stood awkwardly as the knights and the Queen left the room, Gwen leaving last and shutting the door behind her, not before giving Merlin a pitying look. 

 

_ Great.   _

 

      Soon, they were alone. Arthur looked Merlin up and down, similar to how Gaius had done so earlier. 

 

“Merlin.”

 

     “Yes, Arthur?”

 

Normally, Merlin would say something witty in response to his king’s serious attitude, but now didn’t really seem like the best time to do so. Something was obviously troubling him.

 

     “What happened?”

 

“I just told you, the Dolma-,”

 

      “What _happened._ ”

 

Merlin’s heart skipped a beat. Arthur was serious about this, wasn’t he? Merlin felt his mind race, trying to come up with something to tell him.

 

      “Nothing. It was uneventful. What about you? How did you manage to fair without me? I saw your chambers, can’t even put your books away? I should go and see what else you’ve managed to mess up.”

 

      Merlin turned around to leave, when Arthur grabbed his wrist. It wasn’t a tight grip, but Arthur had grabbed Merlin’s left wrist, the one that he had burnt days before. When Arthur gripped his wrist, Merlin felt the blisters that had formed there burst under his bandage. He couldn’t help it, he grimaced in pain.

 

      Arthur looked down immediately as Merlin’s wrist. Merlin tried to pull away, but Arthur was quicker, not to mention stronger, and yanked Merlin’s closer to him. He flipped it over and saw the cloth bandage under Merlin’s sleeve. Now that Merlin’s arm was up, his sleeve dropped down to his lower wrist. The bursting of the blisters caused red spots to leak into the white cloth. They must have been blood blisters. Merlin tried not to look at the blisters after they had formed to resist the urge to mess with them. But now, he really wished he had.

 

      Arthur looked up from Merlin’s wrist and made eye contact with Merlin. Surprised, he loosened his grip on Merlin’s wrist enough for him to finally free it from his grip. Merlin pulled his arm in, inner wrist facing his chest and put his right hand over his left, a way to prevent more grabbing of any body part.

 

“Merlin-,”

 

       “Nothing happened, Arthur. It was an accident. I’ll go… polish your armor.”

 

       Merlin whipped around quickly, but stopped in his tracks. He felt his cheeks getting red with embarrassment. He was just so frustrated all the time! The constant saving, helping, with no thanks or acknowledgement. He often tried to be okay with it. Most of the time he was. But being forgotten… it wasn’t something he could let go so easily. He didn’t turn to face Arthur, he couldn’t, but instead only spoke;

 

“One day, Arthur. You’ll understand.”

 

       Merlin left, leaving Arthur alone in the hall, the Dolma’s words ringing in his head;

 

_ “You owe him a greater debt than you can possibly know.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! Hope you enjoyed. I actually dreamed about this lol. I'm currently in hour four of a six hour delay after flying back from volunteering Doctors without Borders, sitting on the floor with my shitty laptop next to a power outlet. I'm so over airports.
> 
>  
> 
> I thought this would be a nice little one-shot. Merlin was the only complete show I had downloaded to my phone while I was abroad so I ended up watching the whole thing over again and I watched 5x9. I was thinking the whole time "you should talk some shit as the Dolma. Prove to Arthur how much he needs you!" and here we are :) Hope you enjoyed. Maybe I'll make it multi-chapter, but I quite like it the way it is for now. Comment what you think? :)
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> rlb190


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